Redemption
by Burned In Silver
Summary: Following the fall of Aizen Sousuke and his Arrancar empire, Soul Society knew peace - for a time. Four years later, the lives of all involved are thrown into turmoil as a threat to existence itself rears its ugly head. Slight AU. RenIchi. Rebooted!


Hi, folks! This story's been around the block and - unfortunately - played dead for a few years, but I decided to go back and reboot it a bit, making a few well-placed edits here and there for (what I hope are) improvements to the overall work.

Important to note is the idea that this is markedly noncanon, deviating about midway through the Arrancar Arc and going on its own merry path from there.

Enjoy the first chapter, and please review!

oOoOo

WHAM.

The force of the blow carved a thick furrow in the turf beneath, preceded by a black-garbed figure tumbling head over heels. A high-pitched shriek broke the quiet buzz of the early afternoon, and a muffled curse came from the pile of robes at the end of the newly-made ditch.

Abarai Renji stood unsteadily and shook his head in an attempt to regain his bearings. He'd been occupied for far longer than he'd anticipated, and already suffered numerous cuts and bruises, not to mention what surely wasn't a broken rib. Dammit, he thought, How can one Hollow be so much trouble?

The Hollow in question scuttled forward unevenly, deep gashes already visibly in its carapace. It was a multi-legged thing resembling what Renji could only imagine as Kurotsuchi-taichou's worst insectoid nightmare. He flung himself to one side, barely scraping past a black, scything appendage that buried itself into the earth.

"Hoeru, Zabimaru!"

With a wrench of his arm, the serrated blade unlinked and arced toward the Hollow in a wave of shifting steel. The creature reared back, but lacked the speed to evade the zanpakutou. With a triumphant yell, Renji jerked the weapon across the Hollow's mask, which shattered under the assault – followed almost immediately by the Hollow itself.

"Eat that, bastard!" Renji couldn't help but gloat as he sheathed his sword. A sudden lance of pain through his side brought his thoughts back into sharp focus, however, and one hand went up instinctively to his injury.

He had to report to his taichou. Four Hollows in half as many days might not have been anything overly special, but lately the things just wouldn't let him kill them as easily as he'd like. He had a sneaking suspicion that the entire situation concerning Hueco Mundo had a part to play in this, but there was no sure way to pin it on that.

It had been a full-scale assault from nearly the entirety of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads against Aizen's fortress in Hueco Mundo, following countless months of battle and preparation. The Gotei 13 had done nothing so much as devastated Aizen's Hollow army as they stormed up the front ramparts of his final bastion. Kurosaki, Kuchiki-taichou, Kyoraku, and Ukitake spearheaded the assault against Aizen proper, while Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Soifon, and Renji had gone against Ichimaru; Tosen was similarly engaged by Komamura, Zaraki, and Kurotsuchi.

Needless to say, it was utter chaos. No one person was entirely certain of what transpired within those walls that day. An enraged Komamura slew Tosen, while Kurotsuchi-taichou's bankai decimated the former captain's wing of Las Noches. As soon as word traveled through the Shinigami forces, the assault focused next on the enemy's head: Aizen. The man who had once seemed so terrifying used his zanpakutou's hypnosis to full effect, but proved unable to withstand the unleashed might of four extremely powerful bankai. With his death the hypnosis spell that had been cast upon the brunt of the army was lifted, and all felt the renewed clarity coursing through their nerves that came with this release; his corpse was left to rot, slung across the remains of his throne.

Ichimaru, for his part, fought well. Three captains and Renji himself were repulsed time and time again by the man with the foxlike grin and his Shinsou, blade flickering everywhere at once. With Aizen's death, a funereal wail rose from the remaining Hollows in a massive cry of mourning. Ichimaru heard, and bleeding, broken, and subdued, vanished just before the jaws of Hyorinmaru crashed shut, dragging with him his compatriots Ulquiorra Schiffer and Grimmjow Jeagerjacques.

In the four years since the Hueco Mundo Redemption, as it had been termed, no threat that rose against Soul Society ever rivaled the potential devastation that Aizen had attempted to bring about. Tensions were high; no one had seen or heard of the missing Espada or Ichimaru, and the soutaichou was in no position to allow any of his divisions fall lax.

Consequently, every shinigami that held a seat within one of the Court Guard Squads was expressly forbidden from leaving Seireitei. All were to be kept active at their duties and constantly vigilant for the attack from the remaining ex-captain and Espada that Yamamoto was certain would be coming. Hollow emergences in the human world were left to lesser members of the Squads who had little in the way of official duty to complete.

When a small contingent from the ninth division didn't return from their patrol, the Captains took a slight interest in the human world. The eleventh division dispatched four members and Ayasegawa to patrol for a few days, confident that the ninth division contingent was a fluke, that they had merely forgotten to report back. Yumichika's emergency return a single day later with only three of the four members dispatched said otherwise.

The Hollows had been growing in strength, for no apparent reason. Kuchiki-taichou had come to Renji with special dispatch orders – he was to patrol along the Hokkaido region, while Kira took care of Tokyo, and Kiyone and Sentarou would keep down the uprisings within Karakura Town – a noted location due to the high amount and varied frequency of reiatsu – and, consequently, deceased souls - within it.

Hokkaido had been privy to a heightened density of Hollow appearances, but nothing really out of the ordinary. Kiyone and Sentarou, though, seemed to be having problems with Karakura Town. There weren't as many Hollows appearing as usual, but those that were possessed a much greater strength and resilience than was normal. Renji was all too happy to trade off with them; swarms of lesser enemies were not good for him, but big things? He could handle those.

Karakura Town meant Kurosaki, of course. Renji had grimaced slightly as Kiyone and Sentarou took off blissfully behind him. Fortunately for his sake, Kurosaki hadn't been heard of or contacted since the Aizen fiasco. He was nothing but a part-time Hollow killer, and that's all he would ever amount to. Renji was satisfied with that much.

He turned and began walking across the scarred park, hoping that he was headed in the right direction. He was bruised and bloody, and the pain in his side almost forced him into a limp. Breathing hurt. Hell, moving hurt, but he wasn't about to let a lesser Hollow get the best of him. As he passed along the crossway and began making his way along the sidewalk, he couldn't prevent a slight chill from running down his spine.

'If this is what one damn weakling of a Hollow can do, what am I gonna do if something bigger comes along?'

oOoOo

"Hey, Ururu, Freeloader's back! Hide the food!"

Renji raised a weary eyebrow at the boy standing on the Shop's front stoop, broom in hand. "Hey, kid, shaddup. 'S not the day, believe me." He winced slightly as he shifted his weight away from the persistent pain in his chest.

"Jinta, what have I told you? Freeloader this, freeloader that, It's certainly not polite."

The shop's door slid open to reveal the owner, coolly flicking his fan at Jinta in mock disapproval. "Such an abysmal show of manners, wouldn't you agree, Freeloader-san?"

"Yeah, well, I ain't in a position to care right now. There was another Hollow, this one at the park, that sure as hell didn't belong there. It didn't read as anything special, but it's the fourth damn one that surprised me. Look at me – I ain't been in this bad shape from a regular Hollow since my academy days!"

Renji spread his arms as though to give the shopkeeper a better view of the extent of his injuries. His chest flared with pain at the motion, and Renji drew back with a curse, attempting to catch his breath.

Urahara stepped aside immediately, ushering the younger shinigami on with his fan. "In, Abarai-kun, in, you're in no shape to stand there."

"You're tellin' me, eh?" Renji's wheezing didn't pass unnoticed by the other man, who frowned thoughtfully as Renji entered the shop, swaying slightly.

The door slid shut as Urahara walked with Renji to the rear of the shop. "Rest for now while I think, Abarai-kun. We'll make certain you're treated, but it's obvious that current arrangements will prove - hm, less than effective, perhaps, if these Hollows are indeed stronger."

"No problem," Renji grunted noncommittally. "I feel like I could sleep for days." He knelt to unfold the neatly-placed mat, but quickly subsided into a coughing fit that wracked his frame.

"Are you certain you're all right?"

Renji glared at the older man from his place on the floor. "You should know better. It takes more than a couple a' coughs to take me down. Like I said, a couple of days and I'll be fine."

"Well, perhaps not that long, Freeloader-san, but enough for us to get you well."

Urahara's smirk was hidden by his fan as the door slid shut against Renji's spluttered invectives.

oOoOo

"…look, sorry for barging…what to do lately…"

"…-san, sit. I was…contact you…certainly amiss."

Renji's eyes cracked open hesitantly, drawing him from a dark, dreamless sleep into the shaded back room of the Shouten. He lay there for a moment, trying to discern the muffled voices carrying in faintly from the further recesses of the building. Urahara's mellifluous tones weren't difficult to recognize, but without being closer to the main room, Renji couldn't begin to tell who else was talking or what was being said. He definitely hoped that it wasn't about him, though; he'd been through too damn much to bother putting up with more jabs and barbed jokes directed at him. Sure, he could give it back in spades, but there was a limit to his joking before it wore thin – after the past couple of days, he figured that he'd pretty much reached that limit.

The next thing he noticed was the conspicuous absence of the stabbing pain in his chest that had been present when he'd finally given in to his exhaustion and slept. Someone had removed his kimono at some point, leaving him with a fresh swathe of white bandages around his torso, holding a thick padding in place tight against the right side of his ribcage.

Whatever they had done to him while he slept, the pain had subsided to a bearable soreness. Bracing his hands against the floor, he sat up carefully, rather pleased that he wasn't stopped short by his injuries. Feeling brave, he lifted a leg, rising to one knee. When he tried to stand, though, he nearly overbalanced, barely catching himself. Mumbling belligerently under his breath, he reached for Zabimaru, using his blade as a makeshift cane to steady himself.

When at last he had finally gotten to his feet, Renji scowled at the scene before him. The mat and blanket had been rumpled viciously from his battle to stand, and his kimono was nowhere to be seen. He hefted Zabimaru in his hand thoughtfully, then took a step to the door.

His face came to acquaint itself with the floorboards rather quickly.

"Dammit!"

Footsteps approached from the hallway as Renji struggled to raise himself from where he'd fallen. "What the hell? I could walk before I laid down, ya hack!"

The door slid open while the shinigami yelled, followed by a cane arcing through the narrow aperture to thwack him soundly on the shoulder.

"It seems as though you've woken earlier than we expected, Freeloader-san. Take note of your dressing, eh? Stop straining yourself. Don't move. You'll make it worse." Benihime came to rest casually against the floor, Urahara's hands folded innocently over her handle.

Renji rubbed the point of impact ruefully, managing to work himself back into a sitting position. "Make it worse, feh. This comin' from a man who's got a healing spring in his basement. Like I said, I can handle it. Why're ya bein' such a pain all of a sudden, eh?"

Urahara smiled faintly, lifting his head slightly to peer out from under the brim of his hat. "Because you punctured one of your lungs with a broken rib. Luckily we could take care of the puncture wound quickly, but the rib needed to set before we could heal it; it won't do to have you breaking it once more before the spring water finishes its work."

Renji scoffed, hoisting himself to his feet with the help of his zanpakutou. "There ain't no way I punctured one a' my lungs, old man. I'd'a known, wouldn't I?"

"Nah, Renji, you've always been kinda dense, after all. It's okay, though, we all understand."

"What did I just say to him about not moving? Surely you don't think provoking him will help matters?" The irritated shopkeeper moved aside to allow his visitor entrance.

Renji stifled a particularly acidic curse.

Kurosaki Ichigo stood in his doorway, trademark carefree smirk plastered all over the young man's features.

"Oi, Renji, looks like a few years've gotten you a little rusty, eh?"

"Nobody asked f'r your opinion, ya two-bit errand-boy!"

"Errand-boy? The errand-boy that kicked your sorry ass, oh, how many times?"

"Aw, stuff it, Kurosaki. Let the real shinigami do their jobs and get back to your little school, eh?"

"Now, now, Kurosaki-san didn't come here to be insulted or yelled at." Urahara spoke up from behind Ichigo, who had tensed slightly as Renji snapped at him; the other shinigami had leaned forward as he yelled, propped by his scabbard. "Ichigo-kun, do excuse him. We'll call the irritability a side effect of the Hollow wound."

Ichigo eyed Renji for a moment before easing back, the casual grin slipping effortlessly back into place. "Sure, sure. We're all friends here, aren't we? Besides, Renji hasn't had the best couple a' days, from what I hear."

Renji nodded, standing once more with some effort and leaning on Zabimaru in order to keep from toppling over again. "Sorry. Y'didn't deserve that. Damn right, though – you seen the Hollows that've popped up lately?"

Ichigo laughed. "Hell yeah, first one today. I barely took the thing down, then came over here to see what geta-boushi knew."

"Not much more than you, I'm afraid," Urahara offered, fluttering his fan gently. "Tea generally helps, though. Shall we?" He motioned to the hallway, and Ichigo walked gratefully past him. Renji chuckled as he walked slowly forward. "Ladies first, huh?"

Ichigo scoffed over his shoulder. "Hey, you're right behind me, genius!"

"Don't matter. You're still first."

"Good to see ya, Renji."

"You too."


End file.
